A forum for political discourse with a bent to the growing absurdity of it all; to watch and comment on issues in Saskatoon and the performance of elected officials and those who serve them. Easy armchair politics.
"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self." - Cyril Connolly

Monday, May 3, 2010

Walk my walk

I hope that council will recognize that the average citizen is more concerned about the care and condition of their neighbourhood than they are of the mega projects. The SP article (May 1/10) on the deterioration of city sidewalks was not front page news to anyone who lives in an older neighbourhood. In fact the only thing that surprised me was that Nutana was not on top of the list for repair and/or replacement.

The only reason some streets have Nutana "ramps or curb cuts" is because the concrete is missing. Nutana is home to a large number of seniors who resort to taking their wheelchairs and walkers on the roadways because of the poor condition of the sidewalks or lack thereof. The article stated that in past sidewalk repair was driven on a complaint basis. If that were true Nutana would have new sidewalks. I suspect that the new "systematic, scientific process" will not work any better since Nutana has not hit the list for this year - and it is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the city.

I guess I shouldn't complain. We did get a lift station in our one park and the Traffic Bridge is open some of the time with its twinkling garish lights. If only we could safely walk to that park and over that bridge to access the smooth concrete jungle at River Landing.

I don't think Charlie should have the full blame for this one. Although I feel the same about a Councilor being absentee (just like Glen Penner in Ward 8). They think they know what is happening but only rely on a select few insiders to tell them what will get them re-elected. There is something to be said about guys like Pringle that seem to get things across to admin when it's needed. The sidewalk issue has been a long running problem for many of the older neighborhoods. It all starts with Council taking money out of the reserves for pet projects like River Landing. This is why we should move to a system of propositions like the States so we have a direct say on how our money is spent.

Clark spends a good amount of time in his ward? Really? I live in his ward and have yet to see him or hear of him being in the ward once since the election.

Let's face it Clark came into the ward at the urging of the NDP to knock of the Mistress (who held opposing views to the NDP).

AS for the work of the Councillor before Charlie, she at least walked the beat of the neighborhood so to speak. I will reference one such example of what I am talking about. I had phoned Charlie regarding an issue I was having with the traffic on MacPherson (in particular an increase in speeding cars on the uncontrolled intersections) and understandably he was unaware of the issue. However, he couldn't seem to grasp the nuances of the the problem (for example, BV School being right on MacPherson) and didn't offer much insight other than 'I'll take a look at it' (for the record, the problem still exists).

Also, I wasn't surprised to see that many of the houses that require new piping at to be installed (without choice on the owner's part) happen to fall in Charlie's ward yet I heard nary a complaint from Charlie of this. Just another example of his disconnect from his ward. I don't blame him, after all no one living in the ward stepped up to run this past election. This is what we deserve for our apathy

Clark spoke in favour of the new by-law, but also raised concern about payment methods for those who couldn't afford to put up the 2 grand cost over 2 years....if you watch council you would be aware of that.

For the record, the councillor previous to Clark was me. What did I do? I fought and won the budget battle to incorporate a line for sidewalk, curb and boulevard repair. As the late Mr. Uzelman said to me at the time "its not much given the magitude of the problem, but its a start."

The better question is what did the councillor before me do over her 18 year reign when the infrastructure was in rapid decline?

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About Me

I am Elaine. I'm a political junkie. I've been on the front line, now I'm on the sideline. I am no longer married to politics, but I'm still its mistress. I know its likes, its dislikes and its dirty little secrets.
I've been a door knocker, organizer, candidate, school board trustee, city councillor, and now a civic mistress.
Great moments in my career:
*after 12 years on the Saskatoon Public School Board, left with a touch of sanity;
*three times elected chair (and so far the first and only female holding that office);
*helped prevent the building a mega million dollar white elephant for central office and in lieu re-adapted a beautiful historic building in downtown Saskatoon.
Political Philosophy: Hey, those are my tax dollars your spending.